


All That Glitters

by NorthernRoseOfMay



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe, Blue Paladin Allura (Voltron), Dehumanizing, Hunk & Lance (Voltron) Friendship, Hurt Keith (Voltron), Lance (Voltron) Angst, Lance (Voltron) is a Mess, Lance deserves love, Lance is a fancy pet, M/M, Multi, Non-Sexual Slavery, Other, Pampered Lance, Pining Keith (Voltron), Pining Lance (Voltron), Sort Of, the rest of the paladins are not impressed
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-05
Updated: 2018-07-05
Packaged: 2019-06-05 20:08:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15178385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NorthernRoseOfMay/pseuds/NorthernRoseOfMay
Summary: "...And suddenly, Keith understood.This was the Haelnan Emperor’s prized pet. The pet they seemed so desperate to keep away from Voltron’s eyes, with the excuse that it “wasn’t fond of strangers" and could damage negotiations.And looking at the gold and silk-covered creature standing right in front of him, Keith had to agree. Voltron meeting Lance WOULD damage negotiations.Because Lance was very clearly human.  "The Paladins of Voltron visit Haelnea, a planet with giant snake-people, to secure an alliance. Things don't really go as planned, and they find something they definitely didn't think they would.AU where it was the Red Lion that was on earth, Lance disappeared before he joined the Garrison, and Voltron finds him on a planet whose natives think humans are just the most adowable wittle things.





	All That Glitters

Lance had been twelve years old, the day he was taken.

It had been a really bad day. He had woken up with a headache, and the rest of the day seemed to do its darndest to make it worse. All his siblings had been louder than normal, his mama had been snappy, his abuelita had tripped and hurt her hip, and some of his extended family had been invited without him knowing, forcing him to share his room with some cousins he didn’t even like that much.

He had nagged his mama to let him keep his room for himself, and she’d snapped back at him.  _ It’s just for one night, Lance. Stop whining. _

Eventually everything became a bit too much for him. 

He grabbed a jacket and slipped out of the house unnoticed, going off into one of the closest cow fields. At least Kaltenecker would be quiet, if he could find her. She was a good listener, and Lance had a lot to rant about.

It had been a cold night, but he always felt like the stars shone brighter those nights. Sitting next to Kaltenecker and looking up at the sky, he let out a content sigh.

Then a star disappeared right in front of his eyes.

And another. And the one next to that one. One after one, the stars disappeared in a curved pattern. Almost as if something was blocking for them…

The cows grew restless and started moving away, but Lance stood, frozen, staring into the sky, chest tight and a lump in the back of his throat. He didn’t understand what was going on. He didn’t know what to do. Hearing the cows start to run in the distance, Lance snapped out of it, and ran in the opposite direction. He had to go home. He didn’t like this. 

Then the sky opened up.

Before Lance could even process it, everything around him lit up bright white, and his legs lost contact with the ground. The air was sucked out of his lungs.

He blacked out before he even entered the ship.

 

\--------------

 

When Lance woke up, he was strapped to a table, surrounded by big, gray creatures with flat faces and empty eyes. He couldn’t think straight. His head felt like it was filled with cotton.

One of the creatures touched the side of his face. “What…?” Lance tried to speak, but his mouth wouldn’t obey properly and he forgot what he was going to say, anyway. The creature used his attempt to speak, carefully prying his mouth open with long, bony fingers. One inspected his teeth, while another one took notes. They seemed to take swabs of his spit, though Lance had no idea what that could be for.

Lance looked at them, eyes half-lidded and head fuzzy as they inspected every nook and cranny of him with the same detached interest. At one point, one of them shone a light into one of his eyes. It reminded him of when he was at the doctors once. He felt a stab of fear as his head cleared up a little bit, but then he felt a prick in his arm, and everything was fine again.

They continued their painstaking inspection for at least a few hours more before they put him under again, and Lance fell into darkness once more.

 

\----------------

 

When Lance woke up for the second time, he wasn’t strapped down anymore and his head was clear, but he’d prefer being back on the table. At least he was able to stretch a bit there.

Now he was stuck in a cage too small for him to lie down in, even when curled up, with nothing but his old clothes and what seemed to be a worn blanket. He did the mistake of looking around, and found himself surrounded by similar cages, all containing inhuman  _ monsters _ . 

And Lance broke into hysterics.

Crying loudly for literally anyone who could save him, the creatures in the other cages stirred restlessly. 

“Kid, you have to calm down,” a warm voice whispered softly next to him. Attention snapping towards the potential rescuer, Lance’s eyes met with those of the creature in one of the neighboring cages. 

Her eyes were gentle... Her skin was purple. Lance’s breathing picked up again. 

“No no no, listen-” the creature grabbed the blanket in her cage and covered herself with it. “Alright, look at me, it’ll be fine! Breathe in- yes, good, - and breathe out. ” 

Lance didn’t know what else to do, so he followed her instructions. Eventually he calmed down, losing energy to do anything but sob. He still stared at the blanket-covered creature with wide eyes, but she continued talking soothingly, at one point beginning to hum softly instead. 

 

\-----------------------

 

He was in space. The creatures were aliens. A few of them were fully sentient, while some were like, wild space animals. He had been caught up in alien trafficking, whatever that meant. 

Retma, the alien lady in the cage next to his, would fill the silence when the guards weren’t around, telling him about space, different aliens, and legends older than earth. Eventually she stopped hiding under the blanket, but she wasn’t as scary after he’d gotten used to the idea of aliens.

Sure, she had a really long face, the tip of her nose tapered into a sharp point, and her arms were scaly and inhumanly long, but sometimes she’d tell him things and she’d sound so much like his mama that he’d choke up a little. He felt like she was the one thing keeping him sane. 

Then, one day, Retma was taken away. 

And Lance was alone.

 

\--------------------

 

Retma never came back. The other aliens were also taken away, one by one. From snippets of conversations between guards, Lance got the idea that they were all being sold off. 

One after one, the cages disappeared and new aliens were brought in. 

Lance’s cage remained untouched.

 

\--------------------

 

Some days, the guards didn’t bother checking on the cages. Those days were the worst. 

The air was stifling hot. The alien in the cage next to him had died overnight. The stench was unbearable. Lance wished his cage was big enough for him to move further away. 

His front was covered in his own sick. He was sitting in a pool of his own bodily fluids. He knew he was going to die here.

He just hoped death would come quick.

 

\--------------------

 

Some days, they’d all get hosed down with cold water and put into cleaner cages. People got sick those days, but somehow, Lance was still kicking. Maybe humans were better than most at handling space diseases? 

The days they were washed would always coincide with “special buyers” visiting. Those days, the guy who ran the trade would show up to show the visitors around. Lance didn’t know the guy’s name, but had nicknamed him Green by the mossy color of his skin.

The visitors would usually have a specific cage in mind, and Lance was mostly left alone with his misery.

Until one day, one of the visitors stopped in front of Lance’s cage.

“...What is this one?” 

A gigantic, white creature loomed over the cages. Lance thought it was some sort of giant snake at first, until it leaned down to get a closer look at him. Its upper body was human-like, decorated in bright silver and gold, but it was bald and noseless, and its eyes were entirely silver blue, with a black slit going through the middle. 

Green’s shoulders sagged in relief at the snake’s interest. The snake had switched between indifference and annoyance throughout the visit, and Green had started looking a little greener than usual.

“Ah, excellent eyes! This is an earthling, a most rare creature!” Green said, “He is the only existing earthling outside of his home galaxy, not even the Galra have been able to get one!”

The door to Lance’s cage swung open. Lance had never had a better opportunity to escape, but he doubted his legs would work. 

God, everything ached.

A pair of scaly, clawed arms gently grabbed him, and lifted him out of the cage and off the ground. Lance whimpered as his limbs straightened out.

“Oh, you poor thing,” The snake cooed gently as it repositioned Lance more comfortably in his arms. Lance felt like he was about to cry, but he couldn’t tell whether it was from the pain, fear, or the comforting warmth radiating off the snake. “You’re safe with me, treasure…” 

Green piped up next to him, “so, you’re thinking of buying?”

“Buying?” the snake growled, although much gentler than earlier, as if to not startle the boy in his arms. “I was told to choose a gift for myself, and now I have to pay for it?” 

Green spluttered, losing a bit of his seller’s courage. “Honored Emperor, you must understand,” he said, “that one is the crown of our collection!” Lies. “Their species, though similar to the extinct Alteans, is wholly unique!”

“...Unique?” The Emperor gently pet Lance as much as he could without dropping him. “How so?”

“Well…” Green fidgeted, “Earthlings are social creatures, entirely codependent on others. They need love and attention to survive!” The Emperor thrilled at that. “Other than that, they’re fiercely loyal, grow attached to anything pretty easily, are all pure of skin patterns…”

The Emperor tilted his head and hummed. 

“I’ll take this one.”

**Author's Note:**

> Long time reader, first time writer of Voltron fics. Hopefully I'll do okay!  
> I know this chapter is a bit... weird, but I'll try to do better with the rest. Don't be afraid to leave critique, I'm trying to learn how to write, haha. 
> 
> Retma is supposed to be the same species as Rolo. The Emperor and the rest of the Haelneans are supposed to be like, Naga-esque - Humanoid upper part, snake lower part.


End file.
